Andrey Starostin
Fresh cold sliced bacon with dill branch on the wood background

Construction Resumes on New Bacon Processing Plant in Davenport, Iowa

Sept. 6, 2024
Fair Oaks Foods had paused the $134 million project in August 2023, but local reports say construction has resumed in earnest.

Fair Oaks Foods’ progress on a new bacon-processing facility it is building in Davenport, Iowa, has ramped up recently, after a self-imposed pause in construction was announced last August, according to local news reports.

In June 2022, Fair Oaks announced the new bacon facility — a $134 million investment expected to bring 247 full-time jobs to the area — to be built in an industrial park northwest of town. Groundbreaking occurred in September 2022, but by August 2023, Fair Oaks had paused the project due to “rising construction costs,” the local news report noted.

The report says construction appears to be back under way, with the building contractor having pulled a permit for a new $43 million, 134,000-sq.-ft. building in January 2024. In addition, the news outlet reported that an official confirmed to the city council that the project had resumed — but was running behind schedule and may need to have tax agreements adjusted for the new timelines.

Fair Oaks Foods, which is headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., produces fully cooked and partially cooked beef, pork and poultry products.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.

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